Motion-picture reel.



W. BECKWITH.

MOTION PICTURE REEL- v APPLICATION man OCT- s. 1911.

1 ,269,999. Patented J une 18, 1918.

El" umal o z wi/bnmo WALTER BECKWITH, 01 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

MOTION-PICTURE REEL.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented June 18, 1918.

Application filed October 8, 1917. Serial No. 195,397.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER BECKWITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of. Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Motion-Picture Reel, of which the following is a specification.

By way of explanation it may be stated that the operation of threading a motion picture film into the hub of a reel of ordinary construction is fraught with considerable difficulty, owing to the wellknown con-- ditions which surround the manipulation of i a motion picture machine. In view of the.

foregoing, it is one object of the invention to provide a novel means whereby a motion picture film may be assembled readil with a reel, and to provide novel means whereby the hold of the reel upon the film will be released automatically when the film is completely unwound from the reel.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to whichthei present invention appertains.

,The drawings disclose merely a typical embodiment of the invention, and it 1s to be understood that, within the scope of what is claimed, changes falling within the skill of a mechanic, may be made without departing from the spirit of the'invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 shows in side elevation, a motion picture reel embodying the improvements hereinafter described and claimed;

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the reel, the movable wing being swung to an open position;

metal t roughout, and includes a fixed side 1 and a fixed side 2, the side 2 ordinarily havin about-one-half the superficial area of the si e 1. The sides 1 and 2 are supplied with openings 3 adapted to receive the shaft (not shown) whereon the reel ismounted. The fixed sides 1 and 2 are connected by a fixed hub member 4 terminally attached as indicated at 5, in any suitable manner, to the sides 1 and 2.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental section, the cutting A The numeral 6 marks a movable hub member attached as indicated at 7, at one end, to a laterally swinging wing 8- which is hinged at'9 to the transverse edge of the fixed side member 2. As shown best in Fig. 3, the hub members 6-and 4 are provided with flat cooperating clamping surfaces 10.

The numeral 11 denotes an arm, preferably in the form of a curved spring strip disposed circumferentiallyof the hub members (Sand 4, the arm or spring strip being attached intermediate its ends, as showman 12 in Fig. 2, to the periphery of the movable hub member 6'. As indicated at 14, the extremities of the arm or strip 11 overhang and coact with the peripheryof the movablehub member 6, the terminals of the parts 14 being outwardly inclined to a slight extent, as shown at 15, to prevent a cutting of the film 16.

In practical operation, the wing 8 is swung downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 2, the movable hub member 6 being spaced from the fixed hub member 4. The film 16 is laid across the clamping surface 10 of the fixed hub member 4, and the wing 8 is swung upwardly into alinement with the fixed side 2, the movable hub member 6 being brought down, to clamp the film 16 between the flat surfaces 10 of the hub members 4 and 6, as shown in Fig. 3. When the movable hub member 6 is brought into cooperating relation to the fixed hub member 4 as above described, the ends 14 of the spring strip 11 cooperate with the periphery of the fixed hub member 4 as shown in Fig. 3, the film 16 passing between the parts 14 and the periphery of the hub member 4. By giving the reel a turn or two the film 16 Will be wrapped about both hub members 46, and a lateral. swinging of the wing 8 into the position ,of Fig. 2 will be impossible. When the film 16 is unrolled completely from the reel, the tension in the film 16 is transmitted to the ends 14 of the spring strip 11, causing the wing 8 to swing into the position of Fig. 2, the end of the film 16 being released automatically.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that there is disclosed in this application, a simple means whereby the difliculties hitherto attendant upon the threading of a film into a reel will be avoided, the construction being such that when the film is unrolled, the end of the film Will be released automatically from the grip of the cooperating hub parts of the structure.

Havin thus described the invention, What is claime is: 4

l. A reel for motion picture films, comprising a fixed side; a laterally movable Wing hinged thereto; a fixed hub section carried by the fixed side; and a movable hub section carried by the Wing and cooperating with the fixed hub section to form a film clamp.

1,eee,eee

2. A reel for motion picture films, con strticted as described in claim 1, in combination With a circumferential arm carried by one hub section and overhanging the periphery of the other hub section: When the hub sections cooperate to form a film clamp.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my oWn, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WALTER BECKWITl-L Witnesses:

CARL P. CoLoNEUs, PERRY E. GIBBONEY. 

